FIM cross-country world champion, Russian motorcycle racer Anastasia Nifontova said athletes who decide to change sport citizenship do so for good reasons.
Earlier it became known that Nifontova refused to participate in the Dakar rally marathon, because she decided not to sign a document condemning the Russian special operation in Ukraine.
The concept of betrayal can be seen in different ways. If we are talking about sports, then a person has been doing this all his life, this is his profession, if he stops, leaves him, he will not be able to feed his children. He has to choose – either to feed the children or to do something. There is no black and white. Everyone chooses according to their situation, their principles and what is happening around them. I cannot condemn those who change sports citizenship, they probably have very good reasons,” Nifontova said on the air of the program “There is a theme! on MatchTV.
Many international federations have followed the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and suspended the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. In some sports, Russians have the right to participate in neutral status.
Source : MatchTV
